City Council Meeting Minutes

June 4, 2013

CALL TO ORDER: City Council convened in a General Committee meeting on June 4, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 101 S. George St., York, PA, to receive general public comment, with the following Council members present: David Satterlee, Renee S. Nelson, Henry Hay Nixon, Vice President, and Carol Hill-Evans, President, with President Hill-Evans presiding.

GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT

Mary Shepp & Joe Weaver, 500 block of Walnut St., York, PA, complained that the trash truck is taking too long to move through the street and holding up traffic and school buses.

There being no further public comment, President Hill-Evans adjourned the General Committee meeting and convened in Legislative Session at 7:00 p.m., in Council Chambers, 101 S. George St., York, PA, with the following members present: David Satterlee, Renee S. Nelson, Henry Hay Nixon, Vice President, and Carol Hill-Evans, President, with President Hill-Evans presiding.

Members of the Administration in attendance included: Michael O’Rourke, Business Administrator, Thomas Ray, Director of Human Resources, and Barbara Kovacs, Director of Health. Also present was Assistant Solicitor Jason Sabol.

Members of York City Council staff in attendance included: Dianna L. Thompson-Mitchell, City Clerk.

Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Approval of Minutes: Council dispensed with the reading of the Minutes of May 22, 2013 and unanimously approved them as written.

Correspondence and Announcements: President Hill-Evans announced that Council will observe summer recess after tonight’s meeting. As such, Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on July 16, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers (Public comment begins at 6:30 p.m.)

PRESENTATIONS: None

COMMITTEE MEETINGS SCHEDULED

There are currently no committee meetings scheduled for the months of June, July and August as Council will be observing summer recess.

STATUS OF PRIOR COMMITTEE REFERRALS

Committee, Henry Hay Nixon Chair: A Bill proposing to remove the requirement for connection to the city’s gamewell system was pulled from the May 29 committee agenda. The legislation remains in committee and will be discussed further at a later date. (See proposed Bill)

SUBDIVISION / LAND DEVELOPMENT / HARB: None

FINAL PASSAGE OF BILLS / RESOLUTIONS: Final passage of Resolution No. 33 will be discussed under "New Business."

NEW BUSINESS

Introduction of Bill No. 5, Session 2013, (View) A Bill approving an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement for law enforcement services by and between the City of York, Spring Garden Twp., and the York City School District to designate the City of York Police as the primary jurisdiction for police services rendered at Phineas Davis Elementary School located at 300 S. Ogontz St., was introduced by Nixon, read by short title, and deferred to the July 16 meeting of Council.

Introduction of Bill No. 6, Session 2013, (View) A Bill amending the 2013 budget to appropriate revenue and expenditures in the amount of $252,288.00 for a PA DEP Recycling Grant, was introduced by Satterlee, read by short title, and deferred until the July 16 meeting of Council.

Introduction of Bill No. 7, Session 2013, (View) A Bill amending the 2013 budget to appropriate revenue and expenditures in the amount of $179,200.00 for a PennDot Automated Red Light Enforcement Grant, was introduced by Satterlee, read by short title, and deferred until the July 16 meeting of Council.

Final Passage of Resolution No. 33, Session 2013, (View) A Resolution approving the 2013-2015 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 229 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was introduced by Helfrich at Council’s May 22 meeting, came up for final passage. On motion of Satterlee, seconded by Nelson, Resolution No. 33 came up for discussion. (Note: Resolution No. 33 was originally discussed at Council’s April 24 committee meeting and released. However, at the May 22 regular meeting, more questions arose and the Resolution was again referred back to committee. Council further discussed the Resolution at its May 29 committee meeting and finally voted it out of committee for consideration of passage this evening.)

Vice President Nixon said that he has the utmost respect for our blue collar workers but has some concerns about the wage increases negotiated in these union agreements. He said he clearly doesn’t view them as princely amounts but explained that with our struggling economy and burden on our taxpayers, he could not fathom the notion of pay increases. He said when you add up the pay increases of each union, we are looking at hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. With this in mind, he said he could not support these agreements.

David Jones, city resident, agreed with Vice President Nixon and feels there should be no pay increases especially if the residents will feel the financial impact. Mr. Jones challenged Council to put into place a tax decrease plan because the tax burden is killing the residents.

Resolution No. 34, Session 2013, (View)(Contract Summary) A Resolution approving the 2013-2015 York Public Employees Association (YPEA) Collective Bargaining Agreement, was introduced by Hill-Evans, read at length, and on motion of Hill-Evans, seconded by Nixon, Resolution No. 34 came up for discussion.

David Jones, city resident, asked if the pay increase in this agreement would in any way increase taxes.

Business Administrator O’Rourke said that the small amount of money expended for wage increases in these contracts pales in comparison to the unfunded fire and police pension liabilities. He said when the Mayor heard the cry of our residents to do something about the high taxes, a proposal to cut public safety positions was offered. However, the public wasn’t receptive of the offer so that proposal was removed from the table.

Mr. Jones said that pay increases must have some impact on the budget and at some point the taxpayers need to come first.

There being no further discussion, Resolution No. 34 passed by the following vote: Satterlee, Nelson, Hill-Evans – 3; Nays – Nixon – 1.

Councilman Satterlee said he voted to approve these union agreements but doesn’t want residents to believe that he has no concerns – because he does – but he said his concerns are in a different place and that we need to explore other options.

A motion was made by Hill-Evans, seconded by Nixon, to waive the provisions of Resolution No. 215 of Session 1969 to permit consideration of a supplemental agenda containing one Resolution. The motion passed unanimously.

Resolution No. 36, Session 2013, (View) A Resolution authoring an agreement with the PA Department of Health for grant funding in the amount of $178,202.00 for public health preparedness services for the period of 7/1/13 – 6/30/14, was introduced by Nelson, read at length, and on motion of Nelson, seconded by Nixon, Resolution No. 36 passed by the following vote: Yeas – Nixon, Satterlee, Nelson, Hill-Evans – 4; Nays – 0.

REQUESTS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS: None

COUNCIL COMMENT: None

ADMINISTRATION COMMENT: None

NEXT MEETING: The next regular meeting of City Council is scheduled for July 16, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. (Public Comment commences at 6:30 p.m.) in City Council Chambers, 101 S. George St., York, PA.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the June 4, 2013 meeting of Council adjourned at 7:33 p.m.